Description And Comments

The Matterhorn is the most distinctive landmark on the Disneyland scene, visible from almost anywhere in the park. Open since 1959, the Matterhorn maintains its popularity and long lines year in and year out. The Matterhorn Bobsleds is a roller-coaster ride with an alpine motif. On the scary scale, the ride ranks about 6 on a scale of 10. The special effects cannot compare to Space Mountain, but they do afford a few surprises.

In 2012, the Matterhorn completed its first top-to-bottom overhaul since the 1970s, receiving rehabilitated tracks and a more-realistic exterior paint job; that was followed in 2015 by enhancements to the lighting and effects, including a more menacing appearance by the mysterious Yeti. You now first glimpse the Yeti during the initial uphill climb as menacing silhouette distorted by ice, then cruise past an ominous collection of old ride vehicles (including vintage bobsleds and an antique Skyway bucket) that the beast has hoarded. Finally, you’ll come face-to-face with the furry legend not once but twice; the encounters are brief, but he moves with a fluid ferocity that his frozen cousin in WDW’s Expedition Everest can only dream of.

The bobsleds you ride in are three-passenger cars with individual seats (similar to Florida's Space Mountain) with seat belts. The vehicles are unfriendly to the long-legged; tall riders are advised to ask for the middle or back rows, which have marginally more room. Be warned that wherever you sit, this is the bumpiest coaster in Disney's inventory.

A Richboro, Pennsylvania, dad disagrees with our scary rating of the Matterhorn:

My biggest disappointment was the Matterhorn. I understand it's iconic, but the notion that it could rate as a 6 out of 10 on the scare factor is pure insanity. I'd rate it as a 1! After the steep climb in the dark, you basically just go down in circles until you are left baffled that the roller coaster ride is over.

Touring Tips

Lines for the Matterhorn form as soon as the gates open and
persist throughout the day. Ride first thing in the morning, just before
the park closes, or use a FASTPASS. If you are a roller coaster person, ride Space Mountain
and then hurry over and hop on the Matterhorn. If roller coasters are not
the end-all for you, we recommend choosing one of the other coasters
or saving this one for a second day. The Matterhorn’s poorly marked
single-rider
line, which can save you an hour in the queue, is currently
one of the park’s best-kept secrets. Ask an employee at the Fantasyland
side exit how to take advantage of it.

One of the things we like about the Matterhorn is that the entire queuing
area is visible. This makes the lines look more oppressive than they
actually are and also provides an opportunity to closely approximate the
time of your wait. If the line extending toward Tomorrowland reaches a
point across from the Picture Spot, your wait to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds
will be about 30 minutes.
Though the two sides are similar, they are not identical; veterans say the
Tomorrowland track is faster with steeper drops, while the Fantasyland
side is slightly longer with sharper turns.

This chart shows you roughly how long you'll wait for Matterhorn Bobsleds when you visit on a day with a given Disneyland Crowd Level. The blue bars represent the average "peak" wait time (that is, how long the line will be at its busiest). The bottom and top black lines represent the range of peak wait times to expect (for you fellow nerds out there: it's the 5th percentile and 95th percentile of peak wait times). Please note that these are estimates, and for a better forecast for your travel dates, see Matterhorn Bobsleds Wait Times.